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Tag Archives: Wolverine

At this point Wolverine appears somewhere within every issue of every title that Marvel publishes. You’d think there would be no secrets left for faithful or inquisitive readers to uncover. Yet we here at LEMUR have found several that might surprise and astound you. To wit, we present: Little Known Wolverine Factoids.

Wolverine’s shoe size is a 4.

Wolverine is on Team Edward stating,"He's just so sparkly!"

Children in Canada leave their leather belts by the fireplace on the 19th of November in hopes that Ol’ Canucklehead (Papa Canuck in Quebec) will use them to sharpen his claws. Thus pleased, tradition states that Ol’ Canucklehead leaves either smokes, donuts, bacon, or brews behind for those deserving children.

There are so many Wolverine mini-series these days — in addition to his main titles and spinoffs — that I tend to just miss them as fluff out of hand. I’ve read my fair share of unnecessary Logan stories already, so the character alone isn’t enough to sell me on any of his titles at this point. A couple weeks ago I stumbled across one of these minis in the discount bin but one credit on the cover caught my eye: Jason Aaron. The book was Wolverine: Manifest Destiny and — not to ruin the end of the review — it was amazing.

Jason Aaron is something of a comic book mash-up artist, taking what he loves from other media and incorporating it into his comics. Ghost Rider was heavily influenced by the Satansploitation grindhouse flicks, Scalped draws from The Departed, and Manifest Destiny is Wolverine meets The Last Dragon. Set just after he regains his memories and the X-Men move to San Francisco, we find Logan remembering an old wrong and returning to Chinatown to correct the problem he caused after killing the local warlord and not stepping up to fill in the power vacuum.

“Wolverine in Chinatown” probably would have been enough of an elevator pitch to make the book good, but Aaron really sells it. He throws in new gangs, any one of which you’d want to read a mini-series about, new villains (ever want to see Wolverine get punched in the soul?), and a villain whose motivation and connection to Logan make perfect sense.

I wouldn’t do this book justice if I didn’t heap some praise on artist Stephen Segovia as well. It’s rare that I’m surprised by an artist I’m reading for the first time, because I prefer to think I’ve already heard of any penciller in comics already putting out great work. However, Segovia knocked me out with his Leneil Yu-inspired draftsmanship and Simone Bianchi-style panel layouts. Especially with panel design, overly-creative attempts can easily become disruptive, but here they contribute to the style of the artwork while still making the flow of reading easy.

To some extent we’ve everything in this mini before: an ex-girlfriend, a mysterious past, a new direction for our hero. But if you take out all of the bad stories we’ve read with those elements, with Manifest Destiny it’s like reading it all for the first time.

My only real quibble with this book comes on the very last page. There’s nothing wrong with it, it’s just Aaron setting the stage for more stories in Chinatown. My concern is I’m afraid we won’t get to see what happens next. With a Wolverine title this good, it would be a shame for this stand-out to stay buried with the other minis in your comic shop’s discount bins.

“Hey kids, hands off!”

Is there any more effective way to convince a kid to do something than by forbidding them? Whether it’s alcohol, porn, or comics, the forbidden nature is the root of the appeal. And so it is with Wolverine: The Best There Is #1, whose sole draw is is the giant text on the cover saying “Parental Advisory: Not for Kids!”

Normally when I do reviews I throw out some relatively generic remarks on the writing and art, but this book is so horrible it deserves more detail. Charlie Huston manages to put together the most generic X-plot you’ve seen a hundred times before, with Mystery Villain X and Trapped Mutant Prisoner Y and Mutant Cage Fighting Club Z, and yet manages to turn it into a Bourne Identity ripoff. At the same time, he completely misrepresents Logan. There’s a case to be made that — like Superman #707 — Logan is being mind-controlled, but even when he’s not, he’s a completely unfamiliar character.

Artist Juan Jose Ryp has been putting out quality work on books like Robocop, No Hero, and Black Summer for Avatar, so it was inevitable he would get the call to work for The Big Two. However, here his work comes across mostly as stilted and over-posed, and not quite ready for prime time.

The real irony is, it’s not much “mature” than any other Wolverine comic on the stands! When the character’s flagship title features him in HELL, having Logan dance with (and give designer haircuts to?!??!) some generic clubhopping cliches at a douchebag hipster club doesn’t seem especially offensive. Even the language is all %^#&!’ed out. Truly, the most offensive part of this book is Ryp’s decision to draw hints of Wolverine’s pubic hair. Don’t get me wrong, that’s a horrifying decision, but nothing that rates a Parental Advisory rating and such strong warning language on the cover.

Then, to top it all off…Marvel wraps the whole debacle up with a beautiful Bryan Hitch cover. No, sir. I don’t think I like it.

In any given week there are approximately 32 books featuring either Wolverine, Deadpool, or both. And there’s more to come. Here’s a sample of titles you can look forward to reading at your local panel story pamphlet dispensary.